Hick is regarded as one of the most gifted batsmen of his generation, although he failed to flourish in the international arena - averaging 31.32.

He has scored 41,112 runs in 526 first-class games at an average of 52.23, with 294 scores of 50-plus.

The Zimbabwe-born batsman made his Worcestershire debut in the last game of the 1984 season and since then has beaten almost every batting record in the club's history.

In June last year, Hick, who made 65 Test appearances, became only the 16th player to score more than 40,000 first-class runs.

He made his England debut against West Indies at Leeds in 1991 after becoming the youngest player to score 50 first-class centuries, but was dropped after just four Tests in what was to become a stop-start international career.

A year later, against Pakistan at Edgbaston, he scored his first Test 50, but was later omitted from the side before earning a recall for the winter tour of India, where he hit his maiden Test century.

Hick made his final Test appearance against Sri Lanka in Kandy in March 2001, finishing with just six hundreds and 18 half-centuries.